A new €3 million EU project is tasked with creating a clear strategy for Big Data in Europe. Researchers at the Digital Enterprise Research Institute (DERI) at NUI Galway are leading Ireland’s involvement in the project called Big Data Public Private Forum (BIG).

The BIG project aims to provide a platform for industry, research, policy makers, and community initiatives to discuss the challenges of Big Data and the emerging Data Economy. The project is developing a requirements roadmap together with action plans for addressing these challenges at the European-level. The project sees eleven companies, research institutions and community initiatives from six European countries join forces to tackle issue surrounding Big Data.

The amount of data in our world has been exploding over recent years, with IDC, the market intelligence agency, estimating that there is a doubling of the world’s data every two years. Harnessing the increasing volume of data in enterprises, governments, and our everyday lives is the opportunity, explains Professor Stefan Decker, Director of DERI at NUI Galway.

Professor Decker, who will deliver an address at the upcoming European Data Forum in Dublin on 9 April adds: “Big data is the opportunity to meet the challenges of our time. We are at a critical juncture where a concerted and collaborative effort is needed across Europe. Industry, government and academia must come together to put in place methods to deal with this data and maximise opportunities for Europe.”

“The US has many early adopters of Big Data who have embraced it as an enabler of innovation. In Europe we are starting to see business leverage Big Data, but we need to accelerate its uptake”, says Dr Edward Curry, DERI Scientific Lead in the project.

The BIG project will provide a major boost for technology adoption by identifying the key requirements for Big Data within different industry sectors (energy, transport, public sector, finance, manufacturing, retail, etc.) and creating technology and strategy roadmaps. Dr Curry adds: “We need to enable more European businesses to exploit the competitive edge that Big Data can provide. The roadmaps will help business communities understand the potential competitive advantages from Big Data technologies.”

The BIG project together with other supporting actions from the European Commission will contribute to the successful implementation of the Big Data economy.

The BIG project will work towards the definition and implementation of a clear strategy that tackles the key research and innovation challenges with Big Data. Dr Curry notes, “It is critical that Europe is a leader in the Big Data economy. Key to this is a clear vision of the required technology research and innovation needed to gain Europe a competitive advantage. Within BIG Ireland is at the heart of defining a Big Data Strategy for Europe.”

The strategy will be used as input for Horizon 2020, ensuring the strategy will be sustained beyond the project duration.

The BIG project brings together major Big Data players within Europe. Along with NUI Galway, the consortium includes ATOS, Press Association, Siemens, AGT Group, Uni Innsbruck, University of Leipzig, DFKI, Exalead, Open Knowledge Foundation and STI International.